The Occasional Quartet

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Satchel P. Welch

Four people in front of trees.

The Occasional Quartet (aka The Shitunauts, from left): Willy Porter, Peter Mulvey, Randy Sabien and Bill Camplin.

Willy Porter, Bill Camplin, Randy Sabien and Peter Mulvey are the Mount Rushmore of Wisconsin folk singer-songwriters. They go by the name The Occasional Quartet but it’s very, very occasional when they gather on one stage. The music will go from songwriter to songwriter with stories in between. Porter is an accomplished songwriter but it’s his Michael Hedges-meets-Leo Kottke-style guitar playing that turns heads. Jazz violinist Randy Sabien is a veteran performer seen on Austin City Limits and A Prairie Home Companion. Peter Mulvey is perhaps the most prolific songwriter of the bunch. And Bill Camplin, the elder statesman of the group, went from a career in songwriting to running a cafe for songwriters, Cafe Carpe, in Fort Atkinson.

media release: A conversation with music, from songwriter to songwriter, trading songs and stories, an amazing night of music to be shared with friends… Come join us for this special, rare concert as four of Wisconsin’s finest songsmiths join forces for an intimate evening of original acoustic music

Extraordinary guitarist and singer/songwriter Willy Porter has been turning first time listeners into die-hard fans for more than two decades now with his signature, finger-picking guitar work and playful performing style.  Porter is a major force in the worlds of Americana and contemporary folk and folk-rock music.

A live-wire on any stage, Peter Mulvey is an acoustic singer/songwriter/guitarist who, in fact, defies this categorization. His ferocious guitar playing whisks him through more tunings than he has fingers in the course of an evening, as he winds his way from full-throated rockers to deceptively plain-spoken musings.

Bill Camplin has been an integral part of the Wisconsin acoustic music scene for many years both as a performer and as co-owner of the legendary Cafe Carpe in Fort Atkinson. Bill is a strong guitarist with a beautiful tenor voice and he is noted for penetrating, intensely emotional performances of both his original songs and his interpretations of others such as Bob Dylan.

Dubbed “the past, present and future of jazz violin” by NPR’s Jazz Profiles, Randy Sabien is a regular at Big Top Chautauqua and has performed on A Prairie Home Companion and Austin City Limits.  His instrumental skill on the violin, guitar, mandolin, and piano, in the genres of jazz, country, and rock, is legendary.